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Deuteronomy 32:7
Remember the days of old; consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will show you, your elders, and they will tell you.-
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"Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes, our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about."
— G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Tag Archives: Netherlands
Dutch genealogy at the NGS conference
The weather was lovely and the tulips downtown were in full bloom for the couple of days I recently spent in Grand Rapids, Mich., at the annual conference of the National Genealogical Society. This was my first time attending this … Continue reading
Dutch after all: testing Mom …
It was a quite straightforward message from Ancestry: “S. Hendrickson is your Mother.” It was not unexpected — because she is my mother — but it’s still beyond me how they knew. Confidence level? Extremely High. It’s been only a … Continue reading
Posted in Kreykes, NETHERLANDS, Reitsema, RESEARCH PROCESS, Vanden Bosch, Vander Maaten
Tagged DNA, Dutch, Netherlands
8 Comments
Letters to the Netherlands: May we be childlike and humble …
Not long ago, I learned a saying: “One Dutchman, a theologian. Two Dutchmen, a church. Three Dutchmen, a schism.” There is truth in this. Our great-great grandfather, Jan Willem, migrated to America from the Netherlands with his wife and children in 1889. … Continue reading
Learning their language
Having recently decided to study Dutch, one of the languages of my ancestors, I have to wonder what took me so long. I’m enjoying it thoroughly. I’ve always loved languages. I studied German and a little French in school … dabbled in … Continue reading
They came from Doornspijk
Our great-grandfather Vanden Bosch, who migrated to northwest Iowa in the late 19th century, was by all currently available indications born and raised in the village of Doornspijk. Doornspijk is a Dutch village that in the mid-1970s became a part … Continue reading
Posted in IOWA (ALL), IOWA (Sioux County), NETHERLANDS, THEY CAME FROM ..., Vanden Bosch
Tagged Doornspijk, Iowa, Netherlands, Vanden Bosch
11 Comments
More on locating Dutch ancestors … wie was wie
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the resources available for Dutch genealogy. I’ve had great success using the popular Genlias site to find Dutch records — mostly ancestral marriage records that have helped confirm the names of ancestors’ parents, as well … Continue reading
Posted in NETHERLANDS, RESEARCH PROCESS, Vanden Bosch
Tagged Netherlands, research, Vanden Bosch
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What’s in a name … Kreykes, for example
The family name of Kreykes, from which I am one generation removed, is in some ways a mystery. We know that it was brought to Iowa in the 19th century by a family from Rijssen, the Netherlands. Apparently all recorded … Continue reading
Posted in General, IOWA (Sioux County), Kreykes, NETHERLANDS
Tagged Iowa, Kreijkes, Kreykes, Netherlands
7 Comments
Letters to the Netherlands: The waves rise mountain high …
My great-great grandfather arrived in America from the Netherlands in 1889 with his wife and three children, including my great-grandfather. In his letters from Iowa to family and friends back in the Netherlands, he seemed uncertain whether he would be able … Continue reading
Locating Dutch ancestors
All of my mother’s known ancestors came from the Netherlands and she grew up in a community of predominantly Dutch ancestry, so I’ve always known quite a bit about this part of my heritage. Strands of mystery remained, though, regarding a … Continue reading
Posted in IOWA (ALL), IOWA (Sioux County), NETHERLANDS, Reitsema, RESEARCH PROCESS
Tagged Dutch records, Netherlands
3 Comments
They came from Rijssen
One nice aspect of researching family history is learning not only about the people who preceded us, but about the places they lived … especially those who migrated to the United States. It’s interesting to contemplate the conditions in their … Continue reading
Posted in IOWA (Sioux County), Kreykes, NETHERLANDS, Smalbrugge, THEY CAME FROM ...
Tagged Kreijkes, Kreykes, Netherlands, Rijssen, Smalbrugge
4 Comments
Branch and Leaf ... a family history blog 